Legacy
by 9Mfanfiction
Summary: Pitch Perfect 2 in literary form. Exploring the characters' thoughts and feelings throughout the movie in greater depth, while also adding a few scenes that definitely should have been in the movie.
1. Mishaps

**Legacy**

 **Chapter 1: Mishaps**

 **A/N: Am I seriously starting another story?**

 **This one is basically Pitch Perfect 2 in literary form. There will be a lot more Jeca though. I decided to write this out of a want/need to know what the characters were feeling at every given moment, and why they reacted to something a certain way, and to heighten the friendship between Emily and Beca. Ahh. I'm a loser.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything familiar. Some of the dialogue will be taken from the movie. I will also be altering some of the scenes and dialogue.**

* * *

"Welcome back a cappella enthusiasts," said John Smith, co-owner of Let's-Talk-Appella, a downloadable a cappella podcast.

"We are coming to you live from the nation's capital to witness the Barden Bellas perform for the president on his birthday at the historic Kennedy Center. They are the first all-female group to win a national title, can you believe that, John?" Gail, the other co-owner, inquired.

"Not at all. What an inspiration to girls all over the country who are too ugly to be cheerleaders."

Gail grimaced at John, who shrugged as if he wasn't committing any wrongdoing. She hated his misogynic attitude toward those girls, or any girls, for that matter. She merely shook her head, careful not to mess up her hair, and turned her attention back toward the stage. Gail watched as the Barden Bellas walked in a straight line, then dispersed to get in place. With her hands on her hips, Beca Mitchell began to sing:

 _They say you're a freak when we're having fun  
They say you must be high when we're spreading love  
But we're just living life and we never stop  
We got the world  
We got the world…_

The Barden Bellas were killing it, as expected. The crowd roared, President Obama was pleased, even John seemed to be enjoying their performance. Gail was clapping along—she loved those girls and their talent. They used to remind her of her old group, the Minstrel Cycles. Now, under the leadership of Beca Mitchell, the Bellas only reminded Gail of what she wished her old group was.

 _You wre-e-ecked me…_

Split.

Fat Amy's pants had split open.

All movements ceased; both the Bellas and the crowd had gasped.

Beca was shell-shocked. _This isn't happening…_

* * *

All in a time span of twenty-four hours, all you would see on TV was the national disgrace by the Barden Bellas. Press reports. Interviews. Talk shows. The media was going crazy about Fat Amy's birthday present from down under. Not too many staff or students at Barden took much notice, however. A cappella wasn't as popular as they made it out to be. Conversely, the Dean and the two commentators took the situation into their own hands.

It was 11AM. The Barden Bellas had been summoned to the Dean's office and were awaiting confrontation. By "confrontation," Chloe knew it meant discipline. She was pacing back and forth in front of her fellow Bellas. Her breathing hadn't slowed down since she got the call, and her throat was beginning to hurt.

"Chloe, chill out. It was a mistake, they aren't gonna burn us for witchcraft," said Beca. She, unlike her ginger friend, had taken the news very appropriately. She was with Chloe when she got the call, and she was the one who had to calm Chloe down during her panic attack. The ginger envied her small friend and her ability to always remain calm, cool, and collected while also maintaining a stable relationship and a leadership of an all-female group. It seemed impossible, but she had done it.

"No," Chloe began, "but the National A Cappella Association is in there talking to the Dean about us and who _knows_ what's gonna happen?"

"We've won three championships. Whatever happens in there we're gonna be fine," Beca deadpanned, rolling her eyes as Chloe kept pacing. She perked up. She was still awaiting a call from Residual Heat Recording Studio, which must have been what inspired her next comment. "Maybe it's time to… think about other stuff."

Chloe's expression changed; she looked as if Beca had slapped her in the face. "What other stuff?"

Beca replied too fast. What was she thinking? "You know, school… jobs… life…"

"This group _is_ my life. I've intentionally failed Russian lit _three times_ so I could be a Bella." Chloe sighed and took a seat next to Beca, crossing her legs and putting her elbows on her knees. After a few moments she sat back abruptly. "This is the worst thing that has ever happened to us. Ever!" she exclaimed. Everyone fell silent.

Chloe was supposed to graduate three years ago, with Aubrey. And she was prepared to—grade wise. After the Bellas performance at the ICCA's in 2012, however, she decided she would start failing classes in order to continue her Bella career.

"The Dean is ready for you tramps," said a voice. Beca flicked her head toward the sound while the girls gasped. Beca simply rolled her eyes and stood up. She blew out a breath. _Authorities._

The Bellas followed the uncouth adult that sent for them into the Dean's office, and stood in silence for a few seconds as the Dean gathered his thoughts. Beca could see the disappointed miens of the NAA, and she knew it was about to be over for the Bellas.

"Ladies," the Dean began. "You have dragged the good name of Barden University into the gutter. And you've really upset these people… whose names I've already forgotten."

A smile creeped at the corners of Beca's mouth, but she quickly shut them down. It was times like these where she had to remain a professional. Gail and John exchanged glances after giving the Dean a look of disapproval.

John Smith was the first to speak up, going on about how their "southern exposure" ruined the a cappella economy. It seemed as if he wouldn't shut up about it, too, and Beca wanted so badly just to force his silence, but she remained still. _Professional_ , she reminded herself.

"It is the decision of this governing body that the Bellas are hereby suspended," Gail said, her imperative voice speaking for the first time. This dictum had dumbfounded the Bellas. Even Beca's eyes widened. "The terms of your suspension are laid out in this document." She held out a folder. Chloe staggered forward, very shaken up, and accepted it. She flipped through it a few times, and Beca could tell her friend was on the edge of a mental breakdown.

"Okay, can we be reasonable?" said Beca. "Fat Amy apologized. This was an accident."

"Was it?" Gail asked, unconvinced.

Chloe gasped. "You're taking us _off_ of our Victory Tour? Who's gonna sing the National Anthem at the Puppy Bowl?"

"You're being replaced by the European champions. A German group of total professionals."

"In other words, they're going to keep their pants on," John scoffed. As if on cue, Beca and Amy both rolled their eyes.

The ginger looked taken aback as she continued to read. Something must have caught her attention, because she uttered, "So we can't defend our title, we can't tour, we—"

"And you can't hold any auditions," interrupted the Dean. "We don't need your ranks growing."

The Bellas huffed. This was being blown out of proportion. "So that's it, then? Basically the Bellas are over," Chloe emitted. Beca reached out to pat her friend's shoulder, hoping to give her a little reassurance. She was well-trained in these situations, whereas Chloe wasn't.

"We are sorry that this disciplinary action has shocked you. Especially because you're all seniors," said John.

* * *

Emily Junk was a seventeen-year-old songwriter with an apt for a cappella. Her mom, Katherine, was a Bella back in 1981, and ever since she was a little girl, she would practice singing with her mom, Emily's grandmother. It was she who taught her scales, vibrato, belts, and other factors she wouldn't have learned on her own. She then passed those skills on to Emily, who picked up on them quickly, but still had a little trouble with controlling her pitch sometimes. She was good, but Emily worried if she had what it takes to be a Bella. Especially since she had spent the night before researching the new Bellas, and had found herself intimidated by their leader, Beca Mitchell.

"Mom, it's orientation. You've gotta let me go. I don't wanna miss out on the Treblemakers' or the Bellas' performance!" Emily countered. Katherine Junk hadn't let go of her daughter's arm the entire walk from the car to the Student Union.

"I can't. I just can't do it," said Katherine. "My only daughter. Leaving the nest." She began singing, and Emily simply rolled her eyes. This was a normal thing.

"Alright Mom. I'm gonna go now."

"Oh, fine. Just one more thing. Don't be afraid to be confident, or to express yourself. And remember the rules of the Bellas. No sexual relations with—"

"Mom!" Emily exhaled. "I know the rules. I'm not gonna do anything crazy. I'm just gonna write my songs and join the Bellas. Unless… they don't take me."

"No, honey. They're gonna take you. Thanks to me, you were born into it. Now, go have fun. Call me if you need _anything_. Auditions are next Friday. I love you," Katherine said, hugging her daughter tightly, then watched as she walked straight and tall into the Student Union.

* * *

"Hold on," Chloe spat. The Bellas and the administration turned their attentions toward the ginger. "There is _nothing_ in here that strips us of our national title. And if we're still reining champs, we are automatically invited to compete at the World Championships this spring!"

Stacie, who had been silent the whole time, quietly clapped and raised her eyebrows, smiling and saying, "Yes!"

John looked at Gail with concern in his eyes. He directed his concentration back onto the group of women. "This is true," he muttered. "Look, we can't stop you from competing at World's. It's not gonna help your case here."

Beca thought for a moment. "What if we win it?"

She and the Bellas must have missed something, because the two commentators broke out in hysterical laughter.

"What if you win it?" John said in between breaths. He was laughing so hard, a flush began to appear on his cheeks. The Bellas were simply confused. "How can you fit such big dreams in such a small body?"

Beca cleared her throat, avoiding the conversational tangent and delved back into her original point. "If we win it, will you reinstate us?"

"Sure," said Gail, still laughing. "But no American team has ever won."

"That's because they hate us," John chimed in. "The whole world. The whole world hates us."

Chloe couldn't take it anymore; she spun on her heels and withdrew from the room. The rest of the Bellas followed closely, not awaiting any form of proper dismissal.

* * *

Emily walked the enormous auditorium and found a lucky seat. The entire room appeared full. She listened as the Barden staff member introduced the Treblemakers, and watched as she walked off to the side, offering the stage to the Trebles.

The first Treble came out. He was wearing a red vest, and his hair was a bit mussed. Emily had to admit he was cute. Not her type, though. She preferred the nerdy, sweetheart type. Looks weren't important. Plus, he was a Treble, and she wasn't trying to break the Bellas' number one rule before she even was a Bella.

"We are the Treblemakers, I'm Jesse, and this is a cappella," said the dark-haired boy. "Let's do this! Ayo Trebles!"

Immediately, all the Trebles came into view at Jesse's command. They began singing a cover of Mika's _Lollipop._ The mere sound of music from the mouth made Emily amp up. She caught a glimpse of the second soloist, who had lighter brown hair and defined sideburns. She then tried to pay attention to his voice. _Wow_ , she thought.

When they had finished their set, Emily was at the edge of her seat waiting for the Bella performance, but they never came. She didn't get an explanation either. The girl next to her didn't even know what she was talking about.

 _Where are the Bellas?_

* * *

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" Chloe screamed, running her fingers violently through her hair as she entered the outside of the quad. There were tears threatening to drop, and Beca guessed she was about to let out everything she had been holding in.

"Chloe this isn't just your fault, this is on all of us," Beca intervened.

"Yeah, don't blame yourself. You're ginger. That's punishment enough," said Fat Amy.

"So if we don't win the World's, what are we? Just a bunch of girls that… _hang out_?" Stacie said, befuddled. Cynthia Rose whispered something, but no one seemed to have taken note of it.

"If we don't win, the Bellas are over," Chloe started. Beca had lost whatever interest she had in any sentence of Chloe's monologue because her phone had buzzed. She quickly checked the caller ID: _Residual Heat Recording Studio_. Her heart rate sped up. She subtly snuck around the girls, walking a few feet away from them so she was just out of earshot.

"That is great news," said Beca, talking on the phone. Her eyes lit up. "Yes. No, I can start Monday. I would be _stoked_ to start on Monday." She threw her free hand in the air. "Sorry, I don't say stoked. I don't say stuff like that. I'm, like, I'm pretty cool. You're gonna like me." She scrunched her nose. "That was bad too."

"We need to attack this problem head on," Chloe continued, not taking any note of Beca's absence. "I want one hundred percent commitment and laser focus. Right?" She nodded her head, and the girls did too. Chloe stuck her hand out in the center of their circle, and one by one, the Bellas did the same.

"Great! I will see you Monday. Beca out!" She ended the call. _What did I just say_? she thought. _What just happened_?

"Beca!" Chloe shouted, jerking her head in a way that signaled Beca to join in. The petite brunette quickly shoved her phone in her back pocket and trotted over to her fellow Bellas.

* * *

The doors of the Student Union opened and out came an abundance of bubbling freshmen. Emily Junk was among the crowd, and even though the Bellas hadn't shown up for their performance, once the Georgia breeze grazed her face, she instantly felt better. She looked past the crowd and observed the Trebles handing out flyers. She strode toward the leader of the Trebles, Jesse, as she now knew him, and gladly accepted a flyer.

"Great job Trebles. You guys _killed_ it," said Emily.

"Thank you!" Jesse acknowledged. His demeanor changed; he now looked curious. "Do you like a cappella?"

"Oh yeah," she nodded. "It's actually at the very top of all my dream boards—"

Out of the blue, the second soloist from earlier appeared, interrupting Emily, but with good intentions. "Did I hear a mention of dreams? Hi, Benjamin Applebaum at your service. Hello." He stuck out his hand, and Emily took it, just to be polite. _Don't affiliate yourself with a Treble_ , she thought. _It's against the oath._ "I just have to say," he went on, "you are so… spirited. I just wanna put you in a box and saw you in half."

 _What._ Emily's smile was gradually fading.

"For magic," Jesse clarified. "As a part of a trick. He does magic."

"Right," Emily acquiesced.

"It's only weird if you don't embrace it." Jesse took his friend and walked a different direction, while Emily solely stared down at the Tiki Party flyer she was given.

Jesse had his arm around his friend's back staring at him intently. "Dude. Explain yourself."

Benji shook his head. "I'll be honest, I completely blacked out. How'd I do?"

"Honestly, I've seen you do worse," Jesse smiled.

* * *

 **A/N: So, by now, I'm hoping you get a feel for this story. Like I said. It's basically PP2 but I'm gonna add some scenes later on, and they'll probably be Jeca relationship or Beca/Emily friendship scenes. Or both. Probably both.**

 **Please leave feedback! x**


	2. Change Your Life

**Legacy**

 **Chapter 2: Change Your Life**

 **A/N: Ahh! Thank you for all the reviews on the first chapter. I love them.**

* * *

The Barden Bellas used to be an uptight, over-controlled group full of code and order. They had strict rules. Stick to the set. No distractions. Stay focused. Teamwork like that may have worked for a business organization, or a five-star restaurant, but not for an a cappella group.

Everything changed the day Beca Mitchell stormed in. After proving herself over and over again, she finally gained leadership over the Barden Bellas. She brought them to victory at the 2012 ICCA's, in which they were awarded their own Bella house. They won every championship after that. People loved them.

And maybe it _was_ just something about senior year that messed everything up.

"It's been _months_ and we're still getting hate mail?" Stacie sighed, dropping yet another letter into the trashcan. They'd been receiving dozens of letters at least twice a week every week. People would just not move on.

Flo pulled a razor out of a box with a note attached to it. "For your hairy situations?" she read. She looked at the other girls, whose mouths gaped open, then back at the note. "Oh."

"Okay," Chloe breathed. She had been looking online for a way to sign up for the World Championship, and had just found the official website three minutes ago. "We are officially registered," she smiled. "Update your passports ladies, because we are going to the very sunny, very beautiful, _Copenhagen_!"

All of the Bellas cheered, omit Beca, who had left early this morning and hadn't told anyone why. She had been detached from the girls lately, but none of them took much notice. It was probably just her way of getting over what happened to them on national television. Or she was just being Beca. Everyone else was ecstatic about the topical news, though. Fat Amy ran around high-fiving everyone, then pulled out her phone to tweet about it. After celebrating the big announcement, Jessica, Ashley, Cynthia Rose, and Lilly walked outside with their drinks.

"Where is that?" Amy asked, eyes still focused on Twitter.

"I don't know, I failed maps," Chloe confessed. Stacie raised an eyebrow, thinking the ginger probably purposely failed that class as well. _Or maybe it wasn't on purpose_ , she alleged. _She doesn't even know the class is actually titled Geography._

Chloe scoffed suddenly. "It looks like the competition has been dominated by that stupid German group that took over our tour."

"You mean _stole_ our tour." Stacie's chin was resting on her palm as she talked.

"Word," Fat Amy agreed. "We need to scout those douchebags." Chloe, Flo, and Stacie all nodded. "I mean, how good can they be? Germany hasn't produced a good singer since David Hasselhoff. We're gonna crush them!"

"Yeah!" Flo chimed.

Chloe minimized the registration confirmation screen and checked her email. Her eyes narrowed as she read an email about a Tiki Party happening that night. She was lucky she checked her email, too, because the invite had been sent out over a week ago and they would have missed their last hood night party had she not.

Chloe looked up from her screen and eyed each of the girls. "Has anyone talked to Beca today?" she questioned. When no one answered, she began to feel a little concerned.

* * *

"So? Any first day jitters?" Jesse asked as he and Beca got out of the car.

The couple had been dating ever since the night of their freshman ICCA Finals, after she serenaded him with a song from _The Breakfast Club_ , which is now known as 'their movie.' It was also the night of the ICCA's when the Bellas' oath had been sacked by none other than Beca Mitchell, with a little help from Jesse Swanson, of course. Now, thanks to them, the Bellas were free to date whoever they wanted; there were no more oath-bound restrictions.

"No, no. I'm just gonna be moody and distant, artists love that," Beca responded truthfully.

Jesse grinned. "I know I love that." His demeanor changed to something slightly more serious as he handed over her bag. "Here you go," he said, gesturing with his free hand over toward the building.

Beca landed an internship at a _real_ recording studio with a legit music producer running things. If all goes well, it could be the start of something big for her.

She spun on her heel and began walking in the direction of the door to Residual Heat, then turned back around and paced back to Jesse. "Dude, why do I feel so guilty?" she asked. "I've given a lot to the Bellas, right? Like… three years of my life."

"Yeah, Bec, you should _not_ feel guilty at all about taking your shot!" Jesse shook his head.

She finger-combed her hair out of her eye and nodded. "This is a big deal right?"

"Yes, this is a very big deal." Jesse leaned down and kissed his girlfriend on the mouth. His hands were on her shoulders when he pulled back, and then he spun her around so she was facing the building again and slapped her ass. "Now go get 'em."

"Alright," Beca said with absolute certainty. He proudly watched her go.

If one thing existed in their relationship, it would be the joy Jesse receives from embarrassing her. Beca didn't much like it, but she never got mad at him for it. He glanced around and saw no one, however, so it would be okay to—

"Nothing's gonna stop my girl!" he yelled.

"I don't know him!" she countered.

"Back to the fence y'all!"

"You can go!"

* * *

Beca entered the double-doors into RHRS and was immediately greeted by a man dressed in polo and ripped jeans. He was talking to her, but staring down at his phone the entire time. _Super professional over here_ , she thought. He gave her a paper with listen names and a pen, telling her to sign next to her name. She did as asked, then he led her over to a photo booth.

There was an off-white backdrop behind her and a Nikon near her face. She smiled big, following protocol with her mouth closed, waiting for the man to take her picture. After a few moments, he was still playing on his phone, and her smile faded.

"Are you ready, or—"

 _Click._

* * *

Beca stared down at her ID badge and scrunched her nose. _Oh well,_ she thought, _I get a new one in three months._ She clasped it onto her belt loop and set her bag down on an empty chair. Her first mission was simple. Make three coffees for three different people and get Chex Mix for some kid named Dax. In her mind, it was better than stacking CD's over and over again for a guy that always tried to flirt with her, knowing she was with Jesse.

"Everybody to the table! To the table please!" said a new voice Beca had only heard once, which was on the phone. She turned hastily, then rested her eyes on the king of Residual Heat. Keegan-Michael Key. This was nerve-wracking for Beca. He stood at least six feet tall, which was intimidating for the short brunette. His head was bald, his skin was mixed, and he was wearing sunglasses inside. Usually, Beca would question why someone wore sunglasses inside, but his presence made her feel uneasy, and speaking out against him wasn't her idea of a successful first day. "Last one at this table has to help Frank watch YouTube videos to find the next Justin Bieber."

The interns scurried to the long, caramel-brown table that resided in a corner of the edifice.

"Hey, I'm turning 25 next week if anyone wants to get some drinks and celebrate," said Frank, waving his hand in the air.

"Frank, less talk? Thank you," said Beca's boss.

Beca, having taken note that all the seats at the table were full, sat on a stool near the table. She set her bag down beside her on the floor and exhaled deeply. She didn't realize she had been holding her breath.

"Okay my people," Key continued, clicking the remote in the direction of the television and showing a picture of a singer Beca didn't recognize at first. "That is—," the TV shut off. He growled and turned toward the interns. "Dax with the tech guy. Did you call the tech guy?"

Dax blinked in surprise. "Yeah, I talked to him."

"Do you understand how everything in my life works?" he asked with no humor. Dax gulped and nodded his head. "So I just need everything here to work, too—"

"He said he was gonna call me back."

"Oh my god," Key uttered, rubbing his temples. Dax blinked.

"Do you want me to call him now?"

"Don't do it now." He clicked the remote again, and the television worked again. "There we go. This is the lion himself. The legendary Snoop D-O-double-G performing _White Christmas_ at a tree lighting ceremony in Moscow. And he was so moved by the power of music to unite the world or some shit, but now he's decided he wants to drop his own cool Christmas album. And because I sleep on a bed of Grammys, he has hired me to do it," he explained. "Here's the problem folks. There are over one million Christmas albums with the same. Ten. Damn. Songs on them. So guys, I'm telling you, I need all hands on deck right now. We need to come up with a way to make this album stand out."

And that was her second mission.

* * *

 _From: Mom  
Received at 8:39PM _

_Try going to the Bellas' house. Maybe they just forgot about auditions._

Emily read the text over and over again. It's totally possible, right? They're all busy. Maybe they just forgot. Maybe they just forgot. Maybe they just forgot.

She shook her entire body and profoundly respired. Her eyelids shut automatically as she pressed the doorbell, and an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach began to bubble. The door opened, and so did her eyes. In front of her stood Fat Amy, fixing her bra through her shirt.

"Sorry my boobs are all crazy, I was just jumping," she said.

Emily took a moment to find her words. "I, um, I just came from auditions. You guys weren't there. I—I was hoping for the chance to sing for you."

Amy's face blanked. "No, can't help you. We aren't allowed to take anyone new." She turned around and the door started to swing closed, but Emily was quicker than that, and she caught the door. She nearly stepped inside, but she stopped herself before she made the mistake of letting herself in uninvited.

"No, no, no, no. Wait, wait, I'm a Junk!" Emily yelled after her.

"What'd you say about your junk?" said Cynthia Rose, who bobbed her head sideways as an invite inside. Emily knew all the Bellas' names from her explicit research. She wasn't going to tell them that though. Too weird. She treaded inside and was immediately face-to-face with all the Bellas to her right. All the Bellas except Beca, whom she was most daunted by. _Maybe she quit the Bellas after their presidential performance, or maybe she isn't real_. The thought eased Emily's tenseness. It wasn't that she didn't like Beca, she didn't even know her. She was just… intimidated by her. Meeting her in front of all the Bellas would ultimately cause Emily to embarrass herself in some way.

"I'm Emily… Junk," she said to all the Bellas. "I know it sounds weird. It's my mom's last name. My dad's last name is Hardon." Emily began to laugh as a way to calm herself down. By the looks she was given by Chloe Beale, it was the wrong thing to say. _Not funny Em, not funny. Say something else._ She cleared her throat. "Um, I'm a legacy. Junk. My mom was a Bella," she clarified.

"Your _mother_ is Katherine Junk?" asked Chloe.

"Who?" Stacie raised a brow.

"Only the top bitch of the 1981 Bellas. Word's she's got a five-octave vocal range," Chloe informed, surprising Emily with the vast knowledge of her mom.

"Ah, still does. You do not wanna hear that woman doing it with my dad," said Emily, shaking her head and using too many hand gestures.

"What an odd thing to say…" Amy droned.

"True," Chloe continued. "If a legacy wants to audition, we have to let her." She took a seat next to Stacie, who was still eyeing her suspiciously. "Okay," she shrugged, "show us what you got."

"Right now? Right now. Right here, right now," Emily alliterated. She shrugged off her bag and smiled nervously. "Okay, uh, I'd like to perform an original song I've been working on. I'm not… quite finished with it yet, so, you know, let's not be dicks about it." The girls' eyes widened, and Emily realized that, yet again, she had said the wrong thing. _Think, Emily, think. Apologize and compliment._ "Sorry, that was crass. Fat Amy, you have a lovely vagina."

"Thank you," she said. "Proceed."

Emily cleared her throat for what felt like the third time in five minutes. She began to sing, " _When tomorrow comes, I'll be on my own, feeling frightened of the things that I don't know. When tomorrow comes, when tomorrow comes, when tomorrow comes._ " Ashley bent down and whispered something in Fat Amy's ear. Emily was singing a bit off key and a bit too unorganized. " _And though the road is long, I look up to the sky, darkness all around—_ ," she stopped singing, "that part I'm still kind of tinkering with… _I got all I need when I got you and I, I look around me and see a sweet life. I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight. You're getting me, getting me, through the night."_ She snapped her fingers and pretended to play drums and air guitar, which earned her a few weird looks from the Bellas, and she sang the last verse. " _You are my flashlight,_ " she finished.

The girls were smiling, and whether it was real or forced, Emily didn't seem to mind. "Would you excuse us for just one second?" Chloe spoke. She turned to face the other girls and they all huddled in a circle. Emily hoped they knew that they were definitely not out of earshot.

"She's pretty good. Can we take her?" Chloe asked, hinting at their suspension.

Amy seemed to be the only one who noted the reality of the situation. "What do you expect us to say, she's standing right there," she chuckled. Emily waved awkwardly as the girls looked at her. Amy spoke quieter this time. "Definitely not a soloist."

"Technically, she came to us. So, really, we're not breaking any rules," said the ginger.

"Yeah, it's the perfect loophole," Stacie pointed out. Flo went on about something only Chloe seemed to pay attention to.

"I agree. We need new blood."

"I don't think we should decide anything without Beca," said Cynthia Rose. _Shit. She is real,_ Emily cursed in her head.

"Anyone else think it was creepy that she never really opened her eyes the whole time?" Stacie spoke. Emily pretended not to hear her.

"Again, we're talking about her, and she's standing right there!" Fat Amy announced for the second time. The other girls acknowledged her with hesitation. "But if we're gonna talk negatives, let's start with the giraffe legs." Emily stared at her.

"Okay, let's take a vote on it," Chloe said. "Anyone who wants her in, sing G sharp, anyone who doesn't, sing A flat. 1… 2…"

The girls sang in harmony. It was then that they realized G sharp and A flat were the same key. They all stood up and approached Emily, who murmured another compliment, this time toward Cynthia Rose, who just nodded.

There was a silence.

Then, Chloe smiled. "Welcome to the Bellas!" she cheered, and the girls did, too.

"O-M-ACA-G! Woo!" Emily praised, throwing her hands in the air and doing dance moves that would only be seen in a poorly choreographed music video.

"Stop, girl, stop," Cynthia Rose said, catching her hands and putting them by her side.

"Sorry, sorry," Emily apologized. She was smiling brightly. "So, when does initiation start? Tell you what, I'll go back to my dorm, I'll pretend to be surprised and you can throw a hood over my head and make me solve a Rubix Cube while sucking vodka from a maxi pad. That's what my mom said happened."

"Mmm… no can do," said Chloe.

"Look around," Fat Amy gestured to all the women in the room. "We don't exactly have a maxi pad to spare." She patted Emily's shoulder and turned to face the other girls. "Alright, grab your guts ladies, it's party time! We've got tickets to Copenhagen and a brand new Bella!"

 _Copenhagen?_ Emily thought. She shrugged and followed the others outside. They walked on the sidewalk for a mere minute before leaping though a shrubbery and into a backyard. Emily immediately heard music and the chatter coming from several feet away and understood. This must be where the party's at.

"Let's go get into _treble_!" Stacie shouted.

"Has this bush always been here?" asked Amy.

"You know there's a gate, right?" Cynthia Rose uttered.

The girls walked through the grass and onto the cement to join the other partygoers. Beca still wasn't there, which really bummed Emily, to her surprise. She found that she really did want to meet that girl. But all she saw was most of the kids she saw at auditions. She peered over the shoulders of the others and saw Jesse coming over to greet them. He was wearing a blue plaid shirt and jeans, and he had a drink in his hand.

"Bellas!" he addressed them. "Welcome, welcome, welcome!"

"Jesse, where is Beca? I thought she was going to be with you tonight," Chloe stated. _Why would Beca be with a Treble? Isn't that against the oath?_ Emily contemplated. _Maybe they're just friends._

Jesse crinkled his nose and changed his expression. "I thought she was with you?" he said, motioning at all the Bellas.

"I thought she was with you…" Chloe furrowed her brow. Jesse only shrugged, then found his way over to the drinks.

The Bellas dispersed, leaving Emily wandering through the crowd of strangers. She walked over to the drinks and saw vodka, beer, and water. She reached for the water, not wanting to taste alcohol at her first college party. Emily was in the middle of a sip when she felt a tap on her shoulder; it caught her by surprise. She spun on her heel and saw the familiar face of… what was his name again?

"Hey, Benji, right?" she hoped. He just nodded.

"Beh… slargan… carp… les…"

Emily's mien altered into a more apprehensive one.

"Oh, those aren't words…," Benji staggered. More gibberish spewed out of his mouth, then finally something made sense. "The… uh… movies…"

"Are you asking me on a date?" Emily inquired. Benji shook his head nervously, then opened his eyes and nodded. _The oath, Emily. No Trebles._ "That's so sweet," she smiled. "It's just, uh, it's my first week of college, and I don't really want to rush in on anything." It was mostly true. All he did was nod, because his words weren't making much sense right now. He reached into his pocket and threw something on the ground, allowing him to disappear in a cloud of smoke.

* * *

Beca walked into the party "fashionably late," as Chloe would say. In reality she was only about ten minutes later than the rest of the Bellas. She scanned the crowd until she saw Jesse, who was innocently sipping something from a coconut cup. He was sitting alone at one of the long tables, probably awaiting her. The partygoers weren't surrounding him, which made it easier for Beca to slip past them and yell, "Hey!" while roughly putting her hands on his shoulders. He jumped, triggering a drop of whatever he was drinking to spill on the table. "Oh shit," Beca laughed, turning his head and pressing her lips against his.

"You made it," he said in a cheerful tone.

"Yeah, I couldn't miss our last hood night party." Her voice sounded breathless, which matched the way she felt. Exhausted. She laid back in her chair and huffed.

"So? How was the internship?"

"Eye-opening." Beca shifted herself more comfortably in her seat. The duration of her day had been spent at RHRS, running errands for different people and trying to find the chance to talk to her boss, because she actually had an idea for the Christmas album. He had been way too busy taking phone calls and meeting with different musicians. "They do not mess around," she huffed.

He took another sip of his drink and narrowed his eyes. "Chloe asked where you were," he said. "Why didn't you tell her?"

"Oh, she's just…," Beca looked over at the crowd and spotted Chloe dancing with Stacie, "she's like locked in another world right now and I'm looking for the right time. I'll tell her." She thought about how Chloe wanted everyone to focus on winning World's and not on anything else, yet here Beca was, spending an entire day at her new job. The familiar feeling of guilt had returned.

"I'm gonna get a drink," she said.

* * *

Emily had been dancing for a while with her fellow Bellas over by the pool, and she had gone through three cups of water already. She was never really one for parties, and she had to admit: dancing was dehydrating. Find her any other day, she'd be curled up in bed working on her songwriting, not even thinking about parties. She glanced toward the direction of the drinks and immediately ceased all movement. There she was.

Beca Mitchell.

Kissing Jesse, a Treblemaker. Talking to Jesse, a Treblemaker. _Is this even allowed?_

Emily tapped Amy on the shoulder and said, "Hey I thought Bellas weren't allowed to date Trebles?"

Fat Amy peered over to where Emily was looking at Jesse and Beca. She caught on. "Ahh, no. That rule was terminated after the big BM over there became leader. Swanson kid has been making her sing like a canary since ICCA's freshman year. Sometimes we can hear them from across the lake. And from the looks of that…," Amy paused, eyeing the couple's current make out session, "I hope you brought headphones with you." She laughed and patted Emily on the back, who was staring into space, trying to take in everything the Australian was saying.

"So they—" Emily turned, but Amy had started dancing with Stacie again. She sighed. Her ankles were beginning to hurt and her throat was dry. Maybe she _should_ go get some water. It would remove the shaken up feeling she contracted from the event that transpired only moments ago.

Emily wormed her way through the partyers and over to the drinks, then stopped in her tracks as she saw Beca heading toward the drinks as well. This was her chance to meet her for the first time. No Bellas were around her. There was no pressure. _You can do this, Emily. Just be cool._

She approached Beca cautiously, but eagerly.

* * *

Beca was drinking a cup of vodka when she saw a figure in her peripheral. Before turning, she tried to identify the person. Brown hair. Tall. Maxi skirt. Tank top. Nope. Didn't know her. She took another sip, then finally rotated to face the stranger. Getting a better look at her, Beca noted she was pretty. And a little creepy.

"Hi!" Emily finally said after moments of just staring at Beca.

"Hi?" Beca replied. The stranger seemed to know her, but she didn't know the stranger.

"I am so excited to finally meet the woman who _singlehandedly_ created the Bellas' sound! We're sisters. I can't believe we're sisters."

 _So this was the new girl Chloe was telling me about._ "Oh! Hi!" Beca said a little more enthusiastically. This lifted Emily's spirits. "Chloe texted me we added a legacy. I didn't even know that was a thing."

 _Oh,_ thought Emily.

"Hey, Bec. Hey, Emily," said Jesse, coming up to greet the two girls.

"You know her?" Beca inquired. He slung his arm around his girlfriend, who held his drooping hand with her free one.

"We met at orientation. Also," his voice got quieter, "Benji's got a little thing for her."

"Really? That's adorable. I'm happy for him."

Emily could barely hear what they were talking about because they were whispering and there was loud music blaring into her eardrums. They seemed happy, which made Emily grin, but also left her inevitably feeling third-wheeled. She flicked the corners of her mouth up briefly and receded into the swaying crowd, joining the rest of the Bellas as they danced to Ying Yang Twins' _Fist Pump, Jump Jump._

* * *

 **A/N: Like I said, I'll be changing some dialogue and adding a few scenes. Also, I checked on IMDB to see if Beca's boss had an actual name, but nope. He doesn't. So I went with the name of the actor. Hope no one was confused about that.**

 **Another side note, if you couldn't already tell, I love the evolution of Beca and Emily's friendship. I loooove it.**

 **Please leave feedback! x**


	3. Confrontations and Expectations

**Legacy**

 **Chapter 3: Confrontations and Expectations**

 **A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates. Been SUPER busy. Also, I'm going to NYC at the end of the month, so I don't know how many updates for any stories I'll be posting in between now and then. I'll try really hard though. Because after NYC… *shudder*…** _ **school**_ **.**

* * *

"Remind me again why we are at a car show?" asked Flo.

"We're here for one reason and one reason only. To scout the competition," Chloe stated.

Emily nodded in agreement and said, "Totally gonna help us win the World's if we know what we're up against."

On this day, the Bellas should have been getting ready to perform at the said car show, but because of their little mishap in front of the commander-in-chief months ago, the Victory Tour was taken away from them and they were replaced by Das Sound Machine. Yesterday, Amy had the bright idea to reconnoiter the enemy. All of the Bellas were there. All except Beca, who had inconveniently texted Chloe telling her she'd be a little late. She didn't say anything after that. The ginger's mood matched her hair color.

The Bellas were climbing the escalator when their leader called after them. "Sorry I'm late!" Beca yelled up, politely pushing her way past the other pedestrians on the moving staircase.

"Where the _hell_ were you?" Chloe scoffed. She had begun to walk down the escalator to confront her. Beca looked as if she were out of breath, and she barely made out the last syllable of what she had to say.

"I was—"

"Chloe." Fat Amy grabbed the angry ginger as she was walking down. "Don't bug her too much about it, you know she was busy in pound town with Je—"

"Amy!" Beca interrupted, her face flushing a bright shade of red. She then began laughing with Amy, whom she couldn't stay mad at for even a few seconds.

"It's _not_ funny," Chloe jeered. "And where were all of you at the Bella meeting after the party?" She turned to the Bellas.

"It was poorly planned, Chloe. Most of the Bellas were drunk off their asses anyway," Beca contradicted. "Even you, a little bit. And you better turn back around unless you want your heels to be eaten by the tip of the escalator."

Chloe's expression pondered, then she hurriedly picked up her heels so she wouldn't trip. "Thank you," she breathed. Beca minimally nodded. It wasn't the best idea to have planned a meeting right after a party. She was thankful that other Bellas didn't show up so all eyes wouldn't be on her. Especially since Beca did have a long day at work yesterday, and Jesse was what she needed at that moment.

She confided in the Bellas, or at least Chloe and Amy, with _some_ of her personal problems, but Jesse knew her better than anyone. Even more than her own father. Beca told Jesse everything. It was he whom she confessed everything to, even when she would rather keep it to herself. The movie nerd inveigled his way into her life, and she was forever grateful for that.

The group of girls followed the Auto Show crowd into a dark room; the only light available came from the black lights surrounding the stage.

"Holy aca-mole…," Flo awed.

Chloe grumbled. "This all should have been ours! I hate these Germans."

They made it right on time, because as soon as they found a good spot to stand in, the two display cars onstage began to move backward. Emily moved next to Beca, who politely stepped over so the taller brunette could squeeze in between herself and the table. Emily opened her mouth to speak to the leader of the Bellas, but then something flickered on the stage.

The face of a woman was now the center of attention. It was slightly pixelated, and her voice shuddered occasionally, adding to the electronic effect. "We are—we are Das Sound Machine," the woman, Kommissar, as told in the description pamphlet of the musical performance, said. The attention of anyone who wasn't already mesmerized was now fixated onto the stage as the woman continued to speak. "A German collective operating in concert to create sonic—sonic mastery. What better way to appreciate automotive perfection?"

The lights went out.

Slowly but surely, they came back on, but only to highlight the smoke coming off the stage. It was then that the formidably high-pitched voices of Das Sound Machine were audible. Beca recognized the song, despite the thick German accents, was Muse's _Uprising._ All that was visible were silhouettes through to blue and black lights, but the a cappella was impeccable and uncanny. It was like a cappella dubstep.

In groups of four, more members of DSM piled out, and Beca did a headcount of at least fifteen or twenty members. At least.

"How are we gonna compete with a group that size?" Cynthia Rose complained.

"They're so freakin' insane!" Stacie added.

Not only were they unapproachably frightening, they were wearing all black and had dark makeup, and they pulled it off. It was somewhat unfair. The way they moved in their mesh shirts, the scales of their voices, the unity, it was all perfectly choreographed and mashed together in such a way that was indescribable. Once they had finished their astonishing set, the crowd roared with cheering and clapping.

"Do _we_ clap?" asked Stacie.

Chloe shrugged. "Politely clap."

Beca made accidental eye contact with Kommissar, and she caught it. In the blink of an eye was she in front of the Bellas, followed by the rest of the group and her co-leader, Pieter.

"The Barden Bellas," she greeted, although her tone didn't suggest any form of emotion. "You came here to see us? Is it because you are… what do the American kids say… jelly?"

Chloe grimaced, but Beca and most of the other Bellas just rolled their eyes. "We are _so_ not _jelly_ ," said the ginger, who looked as if she could bottle all her emotions up in a punch to the face.

"We should really thank you for making this tour a reality, with your bumbling ineptitude." She turned to Pieter and said, "We should send them something. Fruit basket? Or mini muffins?" He nodded.

"Look," Beca spoke. "We didn't come here to start something with you guys, we're just here to check you out before the World's, where we're gonna kick your ass." The other Bellas chimed in, backing their leader up in this game of aca-smack talk. Beca was an expert at these types of scenarios, and although it took her years to master her actions and emotions, it was much easier now to talk in a mock-considerate tone when all you wanted to do was strangle the person standing in front of you.

It wasn't until she was maybe six inches from the tall leader of DSM that she had forgotten those skills.

"You?" Kommissar chuckled, looming around Beca. "You are the kicker of ass?"

Then, Emily's heart race sped up. Emily, who had been silent the whole time, hoping her first a cappella smack talk session would go easily. Now, here was her fearless leader, being talked down to by a giant.

"Well, yeah," Beca nodded.

All Kommissar did was laugh. "But, you are so tiny. Like an elf. Or is it a fairy, or a sprite…"

"A troll?" Pieter suggested.

"Ah, yes. You are like a troll." She gave Beca a sinister smile, an indicator that she knew she was winning the argument.

"You… are physically… flawless… but it doesn't mean I like you," Beca contradicted. Rather, failed to contradict…

Chloe shook her head. Obviously, Beca was a little out of it. "We are not _scared_ about the World's, because when the _Bellas_ hit the stage, we are gonna blow minds."

Kommissar respired deeply. "Darlings, please take my advice. Don't try to beat us. You can't. We're the best. Now, I really must go rest my neck. It is sore from looking down on you." With that, the tall blonde, as if with the click of her fingers, walked away with the rest of DSM at her heels. A sour defeat in aca-politics was what the Bellas were left with.

"Okay, just because you are making me very sexually confused does not mean that you are intimidating," Beca blurted out at all of DSM, even to the guys, which didn't make much sense to Emily. _Today was not her day._ "We have nothing to lose! We have _literally_ nothing! Aca-wiedersehen bitches!" she continued, making all sorts of crazy hand gestures. "Oh, what is happening? I'm using my hands so much…"

* * *

A week after scouting the enemy, Beca and Chloe had the spontaneous yet bright idea to change the Bellas completely. The idea was simple. Change the look, change the attitude, and change the choreography.

"Alright ladies, focus up!" said Chloe, silencing the Bellas and officially beginning rehearsals. Beca was the official leader, but Chloe stood by her side to help direct things. The short brunette didn't much care for help, but she'd never tell her best friend that. "We need to beat those German _dummkopfs_."

"Okay, we're gonna beat DSM at their own game. Do what they do… just better," Beca explained.

This was the first official rehearsals for the Barden Bellas, and everyone was wearing their normal exercise attire. Even then, the girls all dressed to impress as well as they could with Spanx. Emily was _more_ than stoked to have her first rehearsal. She had texted her mom earlier that day to alert her of the news, and Katherine Junk told her daughter if all went well she'd treat her to lunch.

"And we're about to do a full skills assessment to blow out our choreography to match—"

"But," Emily interrupted, "the most important thing is that we have _fun_ right?"

The room was silent. Beca was staring at the ground, waiting for someone else to explain. Emily noted her reticence before anyone else's.

Amy, always being the first to break the ice, gave Emily the run-down. Harshly. "Uh, Legacy, don't take this the wrong way, but you're the dumbest person alive."

 _Okay then…_ , thought Emily.

Chloe clapped her hands together, taking the attention off the new Bella, which made her a little thankful. "Let's start."

…

Beca took her spot on the closed piano and opened up her laptop. It was her job to create the set by picking the songs and blending them together. It was her specialty. Lilly, Ashley, and Jessica took the time and set up props around the room while Chloe instructed the others to their stations.

There were cat interpretations, hula hoops, headstands, ribbons, gymnastics, pole dances (including some interesting moves from Flo), and other tactics that all were new to the Bellas, especially Emily. Beca rarely ever took a break from her laptop, which made Emily believe they were always about to start singing, but they never did.

Emily never got the chance to talk to her leader about her position in the Bellas, which is what her mom encouraged her to do if she ever wanted a solo. She also wanted to ask her a bit more about the Trebles and the oath, amongst other things. The younger Bella strived to be like Beca: independent, strong-willed, talented. However, nothing had changed since the first day; Emily was still intimidated by her and the mere thought of addressing her was nerve-wracking.

"Good job today, ladies! Second rehearsal tomorrow at 10am sharp!" Chloe announced.

As the Bellas packed up their bags and began to leave the building, Emily saw her chance. Beca was over by the piano putting her laptop and headphones away, but other than that she didn't look busy. That was what else kept Emily from asking before; whenever she saw Beca, she was always engaged in another activity, whether it was talking on the phone, lost in music, or doing some sort of paperwork. But now, all she was doing was packing up. _This w_ as her chance.

Emily patted over to Beca and took a deep breath. Collecting her thoughts she said, "Is it weird we never got around to singing today?" and exhaled.

 _Nailed it._

Beca looked up from her tangled headphones and sighed. She made eye contact with Emily, then continued to look down at the mess before her. "Uh, well, it's kind of hard to start singing without arrangements, and that's on me, so. Thank you for reminding me," she said. Beca was trying to be nice to the girl, and considering her stressful state of mind, she thought she did pretty well.

 _Shit_ , Emily thought. _I think I pissed her off._

"Yeah Bec," said a new voice in the conversation that belonged to Chloe. Emily turned and saw the ginger standing right behind her, and then her cheeks flamed. No one seemed to notice. "We're gonna need that ASAP so we can start nailing down our choreography."

"Right on top of that Chlo." Beca sounded tired.

 _Maybe I just caught her at a bad time. Normal._

"Awes'." Chloe trotted away.

"Yeah, awes'…," Beca mimicked. She finished her packing and threw the strap of her bag over her shoulder, then pulled out her phone.

 _Try again, try again._

"Uh," Emily started again, her voice shaking a little more. "So I just wanted to let you know that I've been working really hard on, you know, calming my nerves and keeping my eyes open." Beca continued to stare at her phone with the occasional glance at Emily, which served as an indication that she was in fact listening, at least a little bit. "I was wondering if you could, maybe, give me some pointers… and with the singing… I don't exactly know where you're gonna put me in the song, and—"

"I don't mean to be rude, I just have somewhere that I need to be…" She gave an appreciative nod at Emily, and walked toward the exit of Swine Palace. "Um, you did great today."

"Thanks…" Emily's excitement to talk to her leader had faded, and she was left with a rapid heart rate and shaky legs.

Beca had finished packing and left rehearsals and didn't think twice about what Emily had said. All that was on her mind was getting to the Bellas house and changing clothes. Props to her for forgetting what she had meant to change into on her bed. The Bellas house wasn't far from Swine Palace at all, however, so when she got there, she wasn't out of breath. She was thankful for _that_ , at least. She paced up the steps and went over to her closet, pausing at the mirror. Her hair looked mussed from the humidity exposure.

 _Ugh, this is not professional. I have to do something about this._

…

After setting the curling wand down, she threw on a black blouse and red blazer then checked herself in the mirror once again. Over time, Beca had learned how to curl and/or straighten her hair in under seven minutes. Sometimes, when the Bellas were asked to perform in concert at special events, they'd have to change hairstyles _fast._ Leave it to Chloe and Stacie to teach Beca how to actually _do_ something with her hair. She used to just leave it natural, but those were the times when she didn't really give a damn about anything. Now, she was stressed about getting to Residual on time, and she should have been stressed about World's, but it just wasn't a priority in her mind. And after she added a little lip stain onto her finished look, she grabbed her purse and left the edifice, then hopped into the car where Jesse was patiently waiting.

"Why is it you always insist on driving me?" Beca asked, buckling her seatbelt.

"Three reasons. One, so I can spend more time with you. Two, because I don't want you to stress drive, it could end badly. Three, because you don't have a c _ar_ ," Jesse replied. She exhaled and glanced over at her boyfriend. He was wearing jeans and a purple flannel that she bought for him junior year.

"I'm gonna be late."

Jesse only laughed. "I'll get you there on time." The car proceeded forward with no traffic blocking the way. Once they were paused at a stoplight, Jesse looked at Beca with wide eyes. His hand was resting on the inside of her thigh, and he gave it a little squeeze. "Don't worry."

She shook her head. "I _have_ to worry. I'm meeting Snoop Dogg today. He's recording. This is my chance to show Key what I can do, but I don't know what I'm going to show him. I have _no_ ideas whatsoever."

"Beca, you'll know what to do. I've seen you do it before. This isn't any different."

"It's a lot different."

Jesse pulled up beside the Residual Heat building and checked his watch. "Look at that. Three minutes to spare," he said, but Beca was staring straight ahead, unmoving. It gave Jesse time to stare at her features, and while doing so, he noticed a bead of sweat dripping down her temple.

Beca felt a napkin on the side of her face and turned her head slightly toward Jesse. "Thank you," she breathed, although there was more of an apologetic tone than a thankful one behind her voice. Before he could respond, she pecked his cheek and closed the car door behind her.

* * *

 _Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?_

 _In the lane, snow is glistening._

 _A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight,_

 _Walking in a winter wonderland—_

The music cut off. Snoop Dogg furrowed his brows at Beca's boss.

"Just hold up for a second," said Keegan-Michael Key, holding up one finger in front of the man in the booth.

" _Wait hold up?_ Man what are you talking about? I sound awesome," Snoop stated.

"No, no, it's not you, it's a tech thing. So just take five—"

"Mm, it better be a tech thing. Because the way I sound in my eardrums, this is immaculate man!"

Key turned around and faced the humble interns. Everyone in the room had the same expression: fascinated because _Snoop Dogg_ _was right in front of them_. Everyone except Key, who met celebrities so often, he thought of himself as someone who was above their level. He had his hand over his mouth, and his mien was jaded.

"This song—there's _nothing_ special about it yet. Do you know what I mean?" Key said to the interns. "Any ideas? Because I—"

"Okay, um, hear me out," said Dax.

Key sighed. "Please Dax, don't…"

"We could remove the sleigh bells, and put in… Kalimba, he interrupted." Key stared at Dax, as if confused. Beca noted it was more of a why-are-you-here type of confusion. "You know, the finger thing—"

"I know what a Kalimba does. I know how it's operated."

Dax was silent for a moment. "Kalim—"

"Don't say it again," Key finished. "Go in the corner. Go eat your lunch in the corner." He pointed to the corner, and shoved Dax back from out of his face. Beca stared awkwardly at the two relatives.

"But what am I gonna do with my sriracha?" Dax complained.

"Say one more hipster thing, and I'm gonna shove you in your vintage bassoon case."

Beca watched the exchange and tried not to laugh. She was snapped out of her reverie when Key turned toward his interns again, his glare sharper than knives.

Beca was always good with music. Whether it was layering songs together, memorizing lyrics, making her own music, she was a pro. She could mix and match different songs from different genres and make them flow together in perfect harmony, and anything else thinkable. Which is why, when her next idea came to her, she wanted to slap herself in the face for not thinking of it before.

"Aim higher people. And be very careful what you pitch to me next—"

"Um," Beca spoke. Suddenly all eyes were on her. "Just have him sing it… again? The same way?"

Key looked even more concerned than he had when he was bickering with Dax. "Who are—who are you?"

 _Wow asshole_ , she wanted to say, but didn't. "Nobody. Literally nobody. I just had a thought." _Please work. Please work,_ she thought to herself. Key examined the other interns in the room.

"Okay. Yeah. Sure. Nobody else has an idea." He told Snoop it was time to sing again, and started playing the music. Beca hesitantly walked up to the desk, and then made a beat. She was refusing her urges to glance up at her boss, and settled with occasionally using her peripheral to see if he was even acknowledging her.

He was.

In fact, he was staring at her, waiting for her to do something else. So, she did what she did best and started singing _Here Comes Santa Claus_ along with Snoop Dogg's _Winter Wonderland._

 _Jesse was right_ , Beca thought. _I know what I'm doing._

She sang the next verse, and stole a look at her boss. Key was bobbing his head to what she was singing, and what Snoop was singing, and how they sounded singing together. It took all the self-control she possessed for her voice to stay steady. And when the song was over, she exhaled, then immediately said: "Or it could be something else… I could—"

Key just shushed her and twisted back toward the celebrity. "That was _amazing_ Snoop, thank you _so_ very much. You can take a quick break. Everything. Perfection. _Perfection_ ," he said.

Snoop Dogg, however, already knew he sounded amazing. "Groovy like a drive-in movie."

Beca awkwardly shuffled her arm behind her neck and awaited confrontation from her boss. The back of her neck was sweating slightly. She never experienced the whole stage fright thing, but here in the recording studio with the man that may either launch her career or end it before it starts, she had never been more anxious.

Little did she know she had nothing to worry about.

"You can sing," Key observed.

 _That's a suitable observation…,_ said a voice in the back of Beca's head. She pushed it down. "Uh, yeah. I'm like a three-time collegiate a cappella champion, so… we're both huge successes in our fields."

 _Why did I say that?_

"Yeah, let's say that. What do you _do_ here?" he asked.

Beca's legs started shaking, a tell-tale sign that her anxiety was being about to be a bitch. "I… I just get coffee and burritos and stuff," she stuttered. "I want to produce music, um—"

Her sentence never fully made it out because Key had turned around and yelled out Dax's name, who blinked into reality with a fork in his mouth. Not metaphorically. "Do me a favor and watch this exchange. That's value added." He twirled back to Beca. "If you have any demos you want me to listen to, I'll make the time."

Beca was taking the time to make sure she heard him right. _Did he really just say he would make time for me?_ "Oh seriously?" she finally said. "Oh!"

"Dax, did you see that? She did something that was helpful, and now I'm going to reward her by listening to her demos. Turn back around."

She had to admit, Key was an asshole. But he was a rich, powerful asshole. And now he wanted to listen to _her_ demos. Because he thinks _she_ has _potential._

Beca's demeanor didn't change, but there were butterflies in her stomach and rivers in her bloodstream.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey! If you guys wouldn't mind, I'd REALLY appreciate it if you went on YouTube and looked up 'Flashlight – Hailee Steinfeld Piano Cover' or use this link ( watch?v=71pd_qpRPy4). I did a piano cover of Flashlight, hence the title. The link is also in my Twitter bio and Instagram bio. Thank you!**

 **Also, hope you enjoyed this chapter with the added Jeca scene. Please review! :)**


	4. Dire Straits

**Legacy**

 **Chapter 4: Dire Straits**

 **A/N: The Enchanted Forest, as I will mention in this chapter, is an actual place on the LSU campus, AKA Barden University. It's like a little nature area with trees and stuff (good visual explanation am I right). If you want a better visual, google "LSU enchanted forest" and it should pop up.**

 **Also, to be clear, I AM changing a few things, but nothing that will affect the plot. This scene that is about to happen is NOT the deleted snow scene from the trailer.**

* * *

There are inevitable things, things that must happen. Sometimes they happen for the better, and sometimes for worse. They are things that you cannot do much about, things you must bear for the good of someone else. If not bear, then at least endure. But sometimes, these inevitabilities aren't all bad; sometimes, they're beneficial. And sometimes, you have to be happy. For the other person, if not for yourself.

But that was always easier said than done.

It was Saturday, and the quad was buzzing with college students enjoying their day off with friends. The grass was green, the sky was doing that cool, multi-colored sunset thing with the clouds, and the expressions on everyone's faces were happy ones. Everything seemed right. It was a just like any other normal Saturday.

 _Any other normal Saturday._ Beca couldn't shake the uneasy feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. Earlier that day, she received a cryptic text from Jesse; all it said was: _Meet me. 5:00pm._

He never texted her like that. It was always hearts and smiley-faces, because that was Jesse. Hearts and smiley-faces. He never simply said "meet me" with a time attached. There would at least be a place. And complete sentences. And hearts and smiley-faces. But fortunately, she could always decipher his code.

The only place she could think of meeting him would be the quiet little area near the lake, a couple minutes away from the quad. They had stumbled across it when they were walking around campus one day. Despite its beauty, no one ever seemed to go there. So, Jesse and Beca had adopted it as _their_ spot.

To get there, you would have to walk behind a few buildings and through the Enchanted Forest until you reached the clearing. It was a beautiful, grassy area with a perfect view of the sunrise _and_ sunset. Depending on where you sat.

Jesse was waiting for her with two towels spread out, like always, and a picnic basket ready to go. He was wearing the coat she bought him last Christmas. His back was to her and his hands were in his pockets, and he was staring at the lake. But even from the back, Beca could tell he was somber. There was something else there, too. Something she couldn't detect.

"Hey," she said when she reached him. He turned on his heel, and brought her into an embrace. "Everything okay?"

He just smiled. "Hungry?"

"Starved."

"Good, I brought juice pouches and—"

"Rocky?" Beca guessed, bringing up an old joke of theirs. Jesse laughed for only a split second, and then he went back to his somber-plus-hidden-emotion face, which had turned out to be _very_ annoying to Beca already.

"And _sandwiches_ ," he corrected.

They ate in silence, watching as the sun retreated west. Jesse still hadn't explained why he sent that cryptic text, or why he hadn't explained why he hadn't explained that cryptic text. Maybe he just wanted some time with her. Maybe there _was_ nothing going on. Maybe this was just a normal Saturday.

Only she knew it wasn't just a normal Friday. She knew she was kidding herself. There had to be a reason. There was always a reason.

 _So what are you hiding, Swanson? AKA Mr. Cryptic Texter?_

"You're wondering why I dragged you out here, aren't you?" Jesse asked without facing her. Beca thought she imagined him saying it.

"I would like to know, yes."

He nodded. "Do you remember the night we went out to dinner for our one year anniversary? And then we went back to my room at the Treble house? After you had that terrible anxiety attack in the car?"

Beca hesitated. Neither of them usually spoke of that night. "Yeah. Yeah, I remember. You told me everything would be okay, and that I was just scared of…"

"Me. Leaving you," he finished her sentence. "Because you were afraid that I would break your heart, and you couldn't deal with another broken promise. That was the day that I promised not to leave you."

She nodded slowly, and looked directly in his eyes for the first time since he brought up their one year anniversary. "What's this about, Jess?"

"You know I would never break that promise. Ever. You do know that, right?"

"Yes. So?"

He took a minute to collect his thoughts. "So last week, I got a call back from the University of Southern California. They said—"

"The film school? I thought that if they didn't call after two weeks—"

"Then they weren't going to call at all? Yeah, Bec, me too. But they did get back to me after all."

There was a long pause.

"… And?" Beca asked.

"And… I got in."

It didn't even take her a second. Beca pounced on Jesse, bringing him into a warm embrace and kissing him. He fell to the ground with her on top of him, stunned. This type of affection was hardly ever Beca's thing.

"Jesse! That's amazing! The summer program at USC looks amazing on a résumé! God, I knew you'd get in."

But even after that, Jesse's expression didn't change. He still looked… distant. He definitely didn't look as happy as he should be.

"That's the thing, Beca…," he uttered. "It's not the summer program that I got into."

Beca moved off of him, and Jesse sat up. She examined him. "Wait, what?"

"And… I'm—I'm not graduating… with you." She didn't say anything. "I'm graduating early. I'm guaranteed a full time job after I finish a couple classes at USC. I didn't know how to tell you."

She still didn't say anything. It felt like hours passed before she did. She was too busy thinking of what to say. Thinking of how to say it. Thinking of… thinking.

* * *

Beca was reliving their one year anniversary in her head. Getting to the restaurant, her favorite restaurant in the state of Georgia, 30 minutes from campus. Ordering drinks. Talking. Jesse, ordering his meal but being silenced before he could order Beca's, because she wanted to order her own. Talking some more. Eating. Drinking. Having a great time. Walking to the car. Kissing. Hugging. Talking.

Riding home while Jesse drove, one of his hands resting on her thigh, the other on the wheel. Turning the music up on the radio. Hearing their song, _Don't You (Forget About Me)_ play. Singing along. Turning the music back down.

Staring at Jesse. Staring at his hand on her thigh, a comfortable, familiar gesture of his. Staring. Thinking. Breathing too fast. Tearing up. Crying. Jesse, pulling over. Jesse. _Jesse_.

The anxiety attack. The rain on an unusually cold, spring night. The rain dancing on the car windows. Jesse, helping her out of the car. Jesse, wrapping her up in his jacket to protect her from the cold and the rain. Holding her hair back as she puked, because that was the effect of a bad anxiety attack on her.

 _Jesse._ Telling her that she should never worry about him leaving, because he never would. He said he never would. Jesse said he would never leave her. He promised.

* * *

"You're leaving me," Beca said, coming to the conclusion.

"No, Beca. I'm not leaving you. I'm just going to L.A. Then you're going to join me after you graduate." Jesse scooted closer to Beca and wrapped his arms around her. She shrugged him off.

"And what if I can't? What if I get stuck at Residual, because I'm not good enough for L.A.?"

"Beca, stop. You know I wouldn't have taken this opportunity if I didn't think you would make it in L.A."

She started crying. God knows how much she hated crying. In front of her friends, in front of Jesse, in front of herself. She hated it.

Jesse carefully wrapped his arms around her again, but this time, she didn't resist.

"When do you leave?" she asked.

"January 4th."

"Right before winter break ends in a few weeks."

"Yes."

"That's only, what, twenty days away?"

He didn't say anything. _There it was again. That distant look._ The silence lasted for ages.

"You better make that winter break the best winter break of my life," said Beca.

They laughed.

Jesse didn't say anything after that. He just held her, and she let him. He had made another promise, and that only made Beca shiver in the Georgia sunset.

 _Any other normal Saturday._ She'd kill for one of those right now.

* * *

The next week of work at Residual Heat was long and dragging. She preferred it that way, though. She didn't want to wish these days away. She had been spending almost all of her free time with Jesse, and almost none of it with the Bellas. Last night, after she and Jesse had gone back to the Bella house, he helped her pick out her best mixes to show her boss. And today, she left a copy of three demos on his desk. Now all she had to do was wait.

Beca walked up the path to the Bella house and instantly heard Jason Derulo's _Trumpets_ blasting, and then, as if on cue, something caught her eye in the open window.

The Bellas were in the middle of a pillow fight. In pajamas.

She made it to the front porch, but stopped again. On the welcome mat, there was a strange envelope with a shiny luster. Picking it up, she made her way inside.

Beca watched as the Bellas repeatedly hit each other with an assortment of pillows. Feathers. Giggles and squeals. It's just shy of a classic male fantasy. Beca glanced over at the TV; a Ryan Gosling movie was on. _Of course._

"What am I looking at?" she finally asked.

"We're pillow fighting!" screamed Amy, hitting Beca in her side with a pillow. She was almost knocked off balance.

"Ah! Easy, that's memory foam!" She brushed herself off. "You know this sets women back like thirty years."

"Nah," Chloe spoke, out of breath. "We're just relieving some stress."

"Technically, Beca's right," Emily piped up. "My mom talked about Bella pillow fights in the eighties that lasted for days."

Beca held up the lavish-looking letter. "This was on the porch."

"Ooh, what is that? It looks fancy," Chloe observed.

The music died down and the movie was paused. Chloe jumped down from the couch she had been dueling on and grabbed the letter from Beca. When she opened it, a nice, but unexpected _Ahh_ was sung from the letter. She quickly closed it, and opened it back up. It made the noise again, attracting attention from the other Bellas.

"Looks like we've been invited to sing at some kind of party," she announced.

"We're going to sing?" Emily hoped. " _Finally!"_

"Well… there's just an address and a password."

"How sexy and mysterious," Fat Amy said.

"Like how all my teeth are from other people," Lilly whispered, cracking a smile.

* * *

After the Bellas got dressed and ready, they headed towards the address, using the Google Maps function on Stacie's iPhone. They approached the front door of a mansion that stood on a large estate with manicured grounds.

"Anyone else scared?" asked Chloe.

"Yeah," said Stacie. "It's been six weeks since my last period." Everyone looked at her. _Yikes._ "Oh, you mean about this? Um, sure. Terrified."

"I'm not," Flo stated. "I've already lived longer than I expected."

Beca knocked at the door. A man opened up a small window in the door, but his face was obscured by shadow.

"Password," the man spoke.

Beca glanced at the Bellas for reassurance, then reluctantly replied with, "Fart noise?"

"Did you not see the parenthesis?"

She rolls her eyes, then puts her face in the crook of her elbow and blows, creating the said fart noise. The window closes and the door opens, revealing a short man on a scooter, dressed in blue robes decorated with golden music note jewelry.

"Bellas! So glad y'all came! Come on in!" said the over-excited thinning man.

He led them on a scooter through a magnificently crafter foyer and sitting room into his kitchen. All nouveau riche. Expensive wines lined the wall of the back kitchen, china was on display, and the countertops were marble. Beca could see her reflection in the floor.

"Standing in front of you, ladies, happens to be the world's biggest a cappella fan. I'm Sir Willups Brightslymoore."

"We found you!" Beca said, pretending to be amused. "What can we do for you?"

"So last week when I was having a tinkle, it occurred to me that—Do not, DO NOT!"

Fat Amy had just reached over and grabbed the neck of a ceramic goose. Sir Willups-Whatever swatted her hand away and grabbed the goose, cuddling it as if it were a live animal. Amy put her hands up in defeat.

"That was rude. You do not come into a gentleman's house and touch his goose."

There was a pause. And awkward one, at that.

"So are we early, or…?" Beca questioned.

"Actually, you're pretty late," said the host. He got up on his scooter and rode away. "Let's go!"

Sir Long-Name led the Bellas down an upscale staircase. Creepy photographs lined the walls, and the lamp at the bottom kept flickering at random.

"This is the big time."

A curtain opened to reveal a large living space with, again, shiny floors and intricate everything. There were at least fifty party guests, all lavishly dressed like they were headed to a high school prom. A few chandeliers hung from the ceiling, all probably worth the same as Beca's college tuition.

Sir Long-Name rode his scooter into the crowd of people, but the Bellas stopped to check everything out, maybe trying to see if they saw anyone they knew.

"Only a man who sells the white powder lives like this," said Flo.

Chloe drew in a sudden breath. "DSM," she said. "Two o-clock."

The Bellas turned their heads to the right. No DSM. They turned their heads to left. DSM.

"Ten o'clock, Chloe. Are you failing clocks, too?" Beca asked.

Kommissar and Pieter strode confidently over to the Bellas. Beca was already getting sick of that confident stride. It showed that they clearly thought they were better than the Bellas. _Tsk._

"Tiny Mouse! We meet again," Kommissar teased. "Have you abandoned your foolish plans to face us at the Worlds?"

"You wish, you gorgeous… specimen…," Beca blurted. _Dammit._ She faced Chloe and the Bellas. "She's really in my head."

"Very well," Kommissar continued. "I'd be happy to send you there. I'll mail you. Large envelope. Costs nothing." The German a cappella goddess prided her comebacks. Almost as much as she prided her voice and appearance.

Pieter coughed. "Well, it would cost more than nothing, but still cheaper than sending like a horse, or an adult moose—"

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe you're too big?! It would cost a fortune to mail you! You're enormous!" Beca shouted, throwing her hands up with even more untamed hand gestures.

Chloe pulled her back. "Okay, Beca, calm down."

"I just need to find, like, a taller pair of shoes."

Beca's thoughts about shoe shopping were interrupted by a startlingly familiar voice, one that she had heard just about every day for the past three and a half years.

"Becs! Hey!" Jesse yelled in her direction.

"Hey!" Beca responded, shocked to see him in this weird a cappella fan's mansion on a Thursday night. "What are you doing here? What is going on?"

"Dunno." Jesse looked around at all the people. "We got an invitation on our front porch at the Treble house." He paused and pulled her away from the Bellas, then said, a little more personally, "How are you holding up?"

"What? Oh, I'm, um, I'm good. Great, even. Perfectly fine."

"You sure? Whenever you answer, like, twelve times, you're usually not fine," he joked. She stuck her tongue out.

"No, really. I'm good. Just confused as to what's happening here."

An announcement started.

"Well, I guess I gotta go," said Jesse.

"What? Why?"

Jesse rushed toward the Trebles.

Suddenly, the lights dimmed and a spotlight shines down in the middle of the host, Sir Willups.

"Welcome, welcome to the first ever showdown of the National A Cappella… Laser Ninja… Dragon League! CAAAN YOUU DIG IIIIIT?"

The spectators cheered while every a cappella team looked deliberately confused. _Where were the lasers? The ninjas?_

"To begin, let's meet the teams. First we have The Treblemakers!"

The spotlight found the Treblemakers, who were pretending to know what was going on. The audience roared.

"Next up, the Tone Hangers!"

Another spotlight found the Tone Hangers, AKA the archenemies of the Treblemakers. Each Tone Hanger steps into the spotlight, singing a note on the scale. There's Jason Jones, Joe Lo Truglio, Reggie Watts, and… Bumper? Bumper Allen? Who basks in the applause, proud to be on the "old-dude" team?

"Raise your hand if you've parked John Mayer's car," Bumper said, raising his hand. "Oh, just me? That's who I am."

"And we have the Barden Bellas!"

The spotlight landed on the Bellas, who awkwardly waved to everyone. They were all practically wearing flashing neon signs that said _What the Hell is Going On?_

"And the pride of Wisconsin, the Green Bay Packers!"

The Packers were wearing their jerseys under blazers. Clay Matthews stepped up to represent the team, and two other players ripped off his sleeves for, you know, "effect."

"What the…?" Beca whipped her head around when she heard that the Packers were here. Because, what the hell were famous football players doing in a strange mansion, on a Thursday night, in the middle of Georgia… for some a cappella party?

"And lastly, taking a break from their national tour, Das Sound Machine!"

The crowd is the loudest for them. Kommissar and Pieter hype up their squad by throwing fists in the air and chanting, "DSM! DSM! DSM!"

"Here's how this works," said Sir Willups. "When I point to you, you sing a song from one of the categories that appear on," he pointed to a screen, "that board. Only one rule: You've got to meet the beat. But you have to do it… follow the leader style! If you can't carry the tune, the whole team's out. As in, You Gone! And then—," he tries to pick up a heavy stick, and fails, "—Cornelius, I told you before. This is too heavy. I can't lift it with my arm."

Finally, he hits the gong with the heavy stick. "Okay," he continues, as if nothing just happened. "Now… the winners… will get… epic bragging rights!"

Boos. From everyone. Seriously, this guy can probably afford a seventy year supply of golden toilet paper, and he's giving the winner of an elite a cappella battle epic bragging rights. If Mr. Krabs was human…

"Oh, and, I'm sorry. Did I not mention this? A forty-two thousand dollar gift card to Dave and Buster's!"

The audience roared again. Now, it's practical.

"Let's take a look at the first category!"

Sir Willups points at the board, and the first column rotates and rotates until it lands on…

"Ooh, Songs About Butts. Okay, think about what you're gonna sing. Let's start with… Das Sound Machine!" He points to DSM.

One member makes a beat, and Kommissar and Pieter take the lead, singing Sisqo's _Thong Song._

" _She had dumps like a truck, truck, truck_

 _Thighs like a what, what, what_

 _All night long_

 _Let me see that thong_

 _Baby, that thong song, song, song, song."_

Sir Willups spun and pointed to the Tone Hangers. Jason Jones came in with KC and Sunshine Band's _Shake Your Booty._ Then, to the Bellas, and Stacie came in with Flo Rida's _Low._ After them, Clay Matthews started singing Destiny's Child's _Bootylicious._ Finally, Sir Willups pointed to the Treblemakers, and Benji took the lead, singing Sir Mix-A-Lot's _Baby Got Back._

" _I like big butts and I cannot lie  
You other brothers can't deny  
That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist  
And a round thing in your face  
You get sprung, wanna pull out your—"_

Benji saw Emily bobbing her head to the music, and immediately got flustered and stopped singing. Instead, he blurted out, "But that's not what matters! You know what does? Courtship and chivalry. I'll take you to a nice hot meal and I'll tip the waiter!"

"Stop, stop!" Sir Willups pleaded. "What was that? Hold up, hold up." He approached Benji. If looks could kill. "You think you're a better lyricist than Sir Mix-A-Lot, a man who was knighted by Queen. You know the band Queen?"

"Yes. No, sir, I do not. I—I couldn't help it, I caught a glimpse of an angel." He looked at Emily, who seemed a little embarrassed. "I got inspired."

"Well, you're going to hell. Because Treblemakers…," Sir Willups hit the gong, "You gone!"

The crowd cheered, because the first team had been eliminated.

Jesse looked at Beca, who shrugged and mouthed, _Sorry._

The riff-off continued with the category, _Country Love._ Tone Hangers went first, then when Sir Willups pointed to the Bellas, Beca sang _Before He Cheats_ by Carrie Underwood, which really hyped up the crowd. Then he pointed to the Green Bay Packers, who made a beat, but then Clay choked.

"I got nothing," he said. "Goddammit I got nothing guys!"

The crowd booed in response. Ouch.

"I'm sorry…," Clay apologized, dipping his head.

"Man, you are such a dis-aca-pointment," said another Packer, David Bakhtiari.

The gong was hit for the Green Bay Packers, which left three teams remaining: The Bellas, The Tone Hangers (surprisingly), and DSM (not surprisingly).

Sir Willups pointed to the board once again, and this time, the category landed on _I Dated John Mayer._

"Woah! Yes!" Bumper shouted. "I was his personal assistant!" Each Tone Hanger slapped Bumper's butt. "We got this."

"Great, then why don't we start with you, Das Sound Machine," Sir Willups decided.

DSM set a new beat, and a member named Allie came in with Vanessa Carlton's _A Thousand Miles._ After about seven seconds of the most annoying song ever, Sir Willups points to Chloe, who started singing Taylor Swift's _We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together._

Bumper was going nuts, trying to get in on the category. Finally, Sir Willups pointed to him. He cockily jumped in with Tina Turner's _What's Love Got to Do With It._

And then before the verse was even over, he was stopped. Fat Amy was clapping, but the audience was booing. Again. Tough crowd.

"I killed that!" Bumper yelled over the boos.

"I think you need to explain to everyone… because it sounds like you're implying that John Mayer… and Tina Turner… are having…"

"Oh, yeah," Bumper clarified.

More boos.

"I don't know if I believe him!"

And then the Tone Hangers were eliminated by the sound of a gong.

"Now we're down to our final two! Yeah! We have a showdown! Come on, let's do this faceoff style."

The audience was going crazy. The Bellas and DSM stepped up to the middle of the room to oppose each other, with maybe a two-foot distance in between them.

"Now, let's take a look to see what your final category is…"

The board spun and spun and spun. Finally, it landed on _90's Hip Hop Jamz._

The Bellas excitedly pushed Cynthia Rose to the front, because 90's Hip Hop Jams were all she listened to. And plus, how good could a German team be at 90's Hip Hop?... Right?

Sir Willups pointed to Pieter, who, after a beat is made, started singing Montell Jordan's _This is How We Do It._ Kommissar stepped in to back him up with the other lyrics while Sir Willups pointed to the Bellas to take over. Cynthia Rose jumps in with Lauren Hill's _Doo Wop (That Thing.)_

Sir Willups went from DSM, to the Bellas, to DSM, to the Bellas, for what felt like forever. After _Poison, Scenario,_ and _Insane in the Brain,_ it was the Bellas turn. And Sir Willups pointed to Emily, who instinctively sung the first song in her head. Her song, _Flashlight._ She adjusted it to meet the beat.

" _I got all I need when I got you and I_

 _Cause I look around me and see a sweet life_

 _I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight…"_

Beca liked what she heard, and although she didn't recognize the song at all, she improvised back up.

" _You're getting me, getting me through the night…"_

The crowd started to boo, and Emily dropped the song. Sir Willups quieted the crowd, a little confused.

"I'm sorry," he said. "What 90s hip hop jam… is that… again?" Everyone looked at Emily for an answer.

"Uh… More like 21st century jam… Yeah. I wrote it."

Sir Willups walked slowly over to Emily. Beca gestured for the freshman to not make eye contact. Emily bowed her head.

"So you're saying it's an original?"

Emily nodded shamefully. "Yes."

The crowd was furious. Some of the teams were booing as well. They shouted things like, "Get out!" "Go home little girl!" "Our jam is covers!" "We spit on originals!"

Jason from the Tone Hangers spit in Emily's direction, but Beca guarded her.

Sir Willups shook his head. "What is your name?"

"Emily," she said, nervous and looking like she was about to cry.

"Emily," he repeated. "I hate you." He walked back over into the middle of the room. "In light of this… embarrassing… and unprofessional information, I am forced to declare… DAS SOUND MACHINE THE WINNERS!" He pulled out a tiara and put it on his head. The audience cheered for DSM. The group started jumping with joy and erupted with their victory song, _Jump._ The Bellas walked away.

Beca pulled Emily to the side. She was really impressed, even though they had lost. "Hey, did you really write that?" she asked.

Emily nodded. _Did I just get recognition from Beca? For my songwriting?_

Then Chloe addressed Emily, scorning her. "You shouldn't have done that Emily. Now, DSM thinks they have the drop on us."

"I'm sorry. I panicked. I understand if you want me to crawl under a rock and die."

"Hey, we don't want th—," she pointed at Chloe, who was eyeing Emily, "Hey, we _don't_ want that."

Chloe just shook her head, disappointed in the new Bella. Then Jesse walked up to Beca.

"Becs, let's go meet the Green Bay Packers!" he suggested. Beca nodded excitedly, and the two of them ran off.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys, sorry I've been gone for like… ten months. I was just really focused on school and blah blah blah. The snow scene that was deleted from the movie entirely will be in the next chapter. Stay tuned.**

 **Please review! Hope you enjoyed x**


End file.
